View From Behind The Nets - July/August 2003
by Rodney Dullaghan

Out of the Cup! Who cares??

Ah well, there goes the cup for another season anyway. I know everyone is saying that maybe it is just as well and I agree whole-heartedly. I think a good cup run would have been more destructive to our promotion hopes than bringing Keely and Dykes back.

It was disappointing to go out the way we did all the same. I don’t think that we deserved to lose the game and the two goals we gave away were awful. Alan should have come off his line for the first one but redeemed himself in a big way for the rest of the game. One of his better performances in a Harps jersey by a mile. The second goal I don’t even want to chat about. We showed them far too much respect in the first half and we showed what we could do in the second. Drogheda are a good side and you see why they have been getting so much praise this season. It was great to see a side come to Finn Park and play football for a change instead of camping in their 18 looking to hang on for a point. It was a really entertaining game of football with a great atmosphere around the ground. This is want we want to see week in, week out and instead of bemoaning the fact we are out of the cup, it should make the players and fans hunger even more for a return to the top flight and now concentrate on winning this division.

Their fans were magnificent before, throughout and after the game. We had sandwiches organised for them in Junction 15 before the game and at least three coach loads desended singing songs and the banter between both sets of fans carried on after the game in the same pub and even the next day with the thirty or forty lads that stayed overnight. This is what it should be all about…..take note Sligo fans!

Any of our next three games could be called ‘grudge games’! Bray, who stole our cup in ’99 are first up and in my opinion the league title will rest with either them or ourselves so it is a huge six pointer. Next up we have Galway away, who kicked us, quite literally around the pitch and out of the playoffs last season. The draw experts this term it really would be lovely to get revenge down in Terryland by coming home with the three points. And then our old friends from Sligo come back to town. They aren’t going well at all this season and only for McTiernan they would be in big trouble. They have also the only fans in this league that seem to want to cause trouble. I have many friends in Sligo and who follow Rovers but as always it’s a mindless few who are intent in spoiling it for everyone else. Lets behave yourselves on the night boys.

Night At The Races
Our Night At The Races takes place tonight (1st of August) in Junction 15 straight after the game and we would appeal to all fans that will be staying about after the match to come and support it. All monies raised will be going to Finn Harps and the supporters club have put a huge amount of time and effort to get it organised so

Famous Sligo Fan
I would like to welcome Eamonn Sweeney to Finn Park tonight (22nd August) for the North West derby. Although he is a Sligo fan, he is also author of one of the best and funniest books ever written about League Of Ireland football. Its called ‘There’s Only One Red Army’ and if you ever get the chance to get your hands on it, read it. It is definitely one of the best around. Failte Eamonn and I hope you enjoy your brief stay in Ballybofey.